For the discerning cheapskate record collector

(Detroit, Michigan) — Lending a powerful, gritty voice to a movement that is rapidly gaining traction among today’s youth, Edwin Starr has just announced the released of his new single, the pro-armed conflict anthem,”War”. The second-string Motown vocalist hopes to strike a chord among an increasingly bellicose, arch-conservative student movement on the nation’s college campuses bent on prolonging the war in Viet Nam.

But this is no mere knee-jerk, bandwagon jump from a minor league singer in desperate search of a hit: Starr’s position is a thoroughly considered one. And persuasive.

“What is war good for?” he asked a group of reporters yesterday. “Absolutely loads.” ”

“If you think of the massive, positive economic impact of the military industrial complex alone, war more than pays for itself,” he explained. “Add to that our great country’s moral imperative to spread democratic, freedom-loving values and you’ve got yourself a very powerful pro-war argument.”

Joining the likes of John Lennon (“Give War A Chance”), Marvin Gaye (“That’s What’s Going On”) and Creedence Clearwater Revival (“Unfortunate Son”), Starr’s anti-anti-war protest will be as balm to both Conscientious Acceptors and defence industries alike across the US.

“Songs like ‘War’ give voice to the voiceless,” chimed University of California, Berkeley student Martha Weir. “I mean, when [Starr] says that ‘the point of war blows [his] mind’, it’s clear he speaks for the young people.”

Art Freidland, CEO of PowerCorp which manufactures wiring for missile guidance systems, called Starr “a true American, unafraid to stand up for the little guy whether he works at Lockheed Martin or BAE Systems.”

Starr, whose records thus far have tended to be reworkings of old Temptations songs, says he will follow up “War” with another explicit indictment of the peace effort called “Start the War Now”.